How to Prevent Sexual Harassment in Your Small Business

Sexual harassment in any form is a violation of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act. Actually, Title VII applies only to those employers who have 15 or more employees, and includes local and state governments, employment agencies, labor organizations, and also the federal government.

These employees can include part-time and temporary workers when it comes to determining if an employer has an adequate number of employees. In this way small businesses can also come under the purview of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act and need a Sacramento, CA sexual harassment lawyer.

Sexual harassment

Unwelcome and unwarranted sexual advances, appeals for sexual favors, and physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature can be deemed as sexual harassment, whenever such conduct implicitly or explicitly affects a person's work performance or creates a hostile, offensive or intimidating work environment.

Sexual harassment happens when…

• The harasser and victim belong to the same or opposite sex
•  The harasser happens to be the victim's supervisor, supervisor from another department, employer’s agent, co-worker or even a non-employee
• The victim isn’t the individual being harassed, but is adversely affected by the offensive behavior
• The harasser’s behavior is unwelcome

An employee who is harassed must communicate with the alleged harasser and make every effort to inform him or her that their behavior is unwelcome before they call up a California sexual harassment attorney. However, this doesn’t have to be verbally expressed.

Prevention

Prevention is the ideal means of eliminating sexual harassment at the workplace. To this end, all employers must take every possible step to prevent sexual harassment from happening. They must inform the employees in no uncertain terms that any form of sexual harassment won’t be tolerated. To make this possible, the employer ought to conduct sexual harassment classes for all employees in addition to establishing a complaint process, as well as taking urgent and suitable action whenever an employee makes a complaint.

An employer can always engage a Sacramento, CA sexual harassment lawyer (http://sexual-harassment-lawyers.usattorneys.com/california/) to address these issues and formulate comprehensive policies and procedures to minimize the risk of any form of harassment in the workplace and the chances of being involved in a lawsuit. 

An anti-harassment policy should clearly state what constitutes sexual harassment, prohibit the practice, and establish a simple procedure for victims to file a complaint. It is also important to spell out the consequences of retaliation by supervisors and managers. The policy also should include disciplinary and corrective measures that the employer will impose following any complaint of harassment.

Investigating sexual harassment

When an employer is notified of a sexual harassment complaint, he/she should immediately initiate an investigation. The investigator must interview the victim, harasser, witnesses if any, or anyone who can throw light on the matter. If this involves talking to someone overseas (perhaps they were transferred – which could be suspicious in its own right and yes some small businesses could have someone overseas, at least temporarily - it would be rare but in this day and age, it is plausible), ten different people, people in different departments (probably not in a small business but you get the point - the investigation will go where the investigation leads), then so be it.

Filing a charge

If the matter cannot be resolved internally, the victim has the right to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which is the federal agency that has the responsibility to administer as well as the enforcement of Title VII. There should also be efforts at mediation, between the two antagonistic parties.

No business is too small to have sexual harassment occurring. Even in Horrible Bosses - that was just a dental office! Businesses smaller than that can have sexual harassment issues where Sacramento, CA sexual harassment lawyers are needed. Don't have Internet at work? Afraid someone may be looking over your back? OK, get somewhere where you are alone and go here: http://sexual-harassment-lawyers.usattorneys.com/california/to find the legal help you certainly need. 

If you, as an employer, need further counseling on the matter, it would be wise to speak with a Northern California sexual harassment lawyer as soon as possible.